Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Will you be eating a burger from stem cells?

The world’s first test-tube burger, made from lab-grown meat, was today cooked and served in London.

Scientist-turned-chef Professor Mark Post produced the burger from 20,000 tiny strips of meat grown from cow stem cells.

Prof Post believes the new burger could herald a food revolution, with artificial meat products appearing in supermarkets in as little as 10 years. It has received the financial backing of Google founder Sergey Brin, who reportedly put some £215,000 of his vast fortune towards the project. (BreakingNews.ie)

So if you are what you eat, then what will it become of us, if we start eating laboratory grown foods? We have already a high number of cancer cases and many other diseases that may be linked to our diet. In fact obesity is growing into an epidemic in the developed world. And in the developing world he see also signs of the trend spreading. 

Do we need to be manufacturing more meat, maintaining the culture of binge and easy eating? We have already a diet that is consisted by manufactured foods, filled with preservatives and full of unnatural ingredients. It would be better if we kept our food natural, healthy and tasty. 

We do not have to produce fake meat, only to change our dietary habits if we need to "feed the world" and solve the potential food crisis. There is no need for us to eat meat everyday, so if we want to act on the problem, we should just limit the expansion of fast food chains that promote easy eating. 

We are becoming lazy in our eating habits because of these food chains and we binge eat. We consume too much meat as result of this and that is why maintaining our food supplies seems unsustainable. We should make an effort in going back eating meat a couple of times a week, with once a week eating fish and supplementing our diet with salads,vegetables and legumes. 

If we promote a more balanced diet for the European population, there is no need for "lab" foods. Who knows what the consequences will be in the future,  have we tested their long term consummation by humans and their effects on our health? Just because it is profitable for some, it does not make it good for us.

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